1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to collapsible or knock-down stand assemblies that support free-standing objects in a generally vertical orientation such as cooking pots, Christmas trees, flag poles, sign posts, display racks, and the like. More particularly, the invention relates to collapsible or knock-down support stand assemblies for outdoor cooking burners for cooking pots or for other vertically oriented items wherein support assembly components slidingly fit together without tools.
2. Background Description
Collapsible or knock-down burner or stove support stands and stand assemblies for Christmas trees, flag poles, sign posts, and display racks are known. Some are separable into individual sections, others are foldable into a storage position, and others are partially separable and foldable. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,454,859; 4,508,095; 4,726,350; 5,236,167; and 6,102,027 exemplify such stand assemblies wherein their various parts break down into sections that may be separately stowed in storage and/or carried while camping and hiking.
Of particular interest are commercially available outdoor cookers that include a metallic frame that supports a burner nozzle, such as a cast iron burner nozzle. Such burner nozzles are commercially available and are used to fire most natural gas-fired hot water heaters. Examples of these prior art outdoor cooking devices are shown in U.S. patents that relate to burners and related cooking containers for boiling, steaming, or deep fat frying food items such as a whole turkey or chicken. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,065,735; 5,813,321; 5,970,852; and 6,058,830 feature different primary burner assembly structures that elevate burner frames for supporting such cooking containers.
A disadvantage of these commercially available outdoor cookers that use gas such as propane or butane for heating the large pots filled with heavy cooking fluid is the amount of space required to store them when not in use. Foldable fuel cookers as shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,177,790; 5,117,808; and 5,884,553 each have three support members that include a leg section that rests on a support surface and an upper pot supporting section for bearing a cooking pot. At least two of the support members are pivotally mounted to a hub member or the outer surface of a burner pipe. These prior art burners are designed to be carried on camping and hiking trips and are not particularly useful in supporting such large cooking pots that might easily tip over when resting on the pivotally mounted leg members.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,706,609; 5,482,245; and Des. 342,694 disclose cylindrical sleeve portions that are rotatable with respect to each other and have leg members disposed on the outer surface of an inner sleeve portion. The outer portion includes downwardly directed recesses into which end sections of a leg member or tree positioning eye bolts fit to preclude rotation of the assembled legs and cylinders with respect to each other.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,288,052 discloses a collapsible stand having two sets of opposed legs extending radially from a tubular hub support. The stand collapses or sets up by rotating one set of legs relative to the other set of legs about the hub support until the legs are at 90° to each other. Each leg includes an elongated rod folded back on itself to present vertically spaced inner ends that are secured to discs mounted on the hub support. An outer center portion of the back-folded rod engages the floor and serves as a foot for the stand. The inner ends of the legs are sandwiched between a pair of discs movably and rotatably mounted on the tubular hub support. Two pairs of locking tabs extend upwardly from each lower disc with each pair of tabs being spaced apart to define a leg receiving slot therebetween. The inner ends of the legs are each disposed between a pair of tabs to provide a firm and stable support. The resiliency of the back-folded rods of the inner support element urges the rod ends into the slots between the tabs, and squeezing of the inner ends of the rods shifts them from the leg receiving slots to allow collapsing of the legs to positions adjacent each other.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,406,437 discloses a support base for a display rack that knocks-down easily for compact shipment and storage without sacrifice of strength and durability when assembled for use. The parts fit together without the need for tools and a single locking set screw requires tightening. A hub section includes two sleeves having opposed leg members welded to their outer surfaces. The sleeves may be rotated with the legs stored in a folded position or completely separated into two sleeve and leg sections. The double telescoping sleeve arrangement imparts strength and stability to the support base.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,763,866 discloses a support stand having two sets of opposed legs extending radially from a hollow sleeve hub support, and collapses to a closed position where adjacent legs are substantially parallel from an open position where adjacent legs are substantially perpendicular to one another. A pair of opposed legs form an integral unit with a hollow cylindrical center joining the two legs. Upper and lower circular collars fit about upper and lower ends of the cylinder and caps hold the circular collars in place and secure the stand while allowing pivotal movement to the closed position.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,293,512 discloses a collapsible support frame including an inner tube, an outer tube, and a plurality of support legs fastened to the inner and outer tubes. The inner tube rotatably fits into the outer tube so that folding and unfolding of the support legs are attained by rotating the inner tube. A leg end section is disposed in an L-shaped groove and when lifting the inner tube to be rotated, the groove allows the leg end to come into its circumferential section. The inner tube has a hollow interior for holding a Christmas tree, a flag pole, and the like.